Kiana Sladicki
In the days leading to a hurricane, people flock to HHW programs to drop off household chemicals, particularly stale gasoline, as they prepare their garages, homes, and generators for an incoming storm. Preparations for Hurricane Helene in Pinellas County, Florida, were no exception and as residents realized their gasoline from last year was no longer viable for their generators, our bulk gasoline tanks quickly filled up prior to storm landfall. Once the storm passed, another surge of residents brought in impacted HHW and saltwater contaminated gasoline.
Pinellas County is the most densely populated county in Florida with about 3,500 residents per square mile, totaling nearly one million residents and seeing some 15 million tourists a year. As a peninsula with our highest point only 110 feet above sea level, a significant percentage of our population lives in an evacuation zone. All of these factors make us very susceptible to hurricanes.
The Impacts
Hurricane Helene, well offshore, still brought up to seven feet of storm surge to Pinellas County as it made landfall about 200 miles north of us on September 26, 2024, as a Category 4 storm. This took many by surprise, and garages, homes, and cars were inundated by storm surge.
Post-storm as County employees picked up the pieces of our own lives, our priority was still providing service to the public. Piles of storm debris quickly took over curbsides, and residents flocked to our HHW facilities with flooded chemicals, dead batteries, and the most challenging material to dispose of, saltwater contaminated gasoline. As it cannot be bulked in our metal tanks for gasoline recycling, 55-gallon drums of saltwater gasoline were quickly grounded into our storage bays and costs stacked up for its proper disposal.
Storm debris pickup would normally be a relatively straightforward, 90-day process, but another hurricane was brewing and heading our way, posing a different hazard of extreme wind. This led to an intensified effort to remove storm debris from curbs and unfortunately excessive illegal dumping throughout the County. Hurricane Milton made landfall just south of Pinellas County on October 10 as a Category 3 storm bringing 100+ mile per hour winds to our area.Ìý
The Cleanup
Still in shock from Hurricane Helene just two weeks prior, the County began picking up the pieces once again. In an effort to assist the barrier island communities, we hosted two chemical collection events on the islands in November once there was a clear path and location. Our HHW program has been operating for nearly 35 years, and the first island collection was our most successful event to date collecting 20,580 pounds of latex paint alone, nearly all of it having been submerged in saltwater and even washing up into people’s yards. The following weekend we hosted another event on the islands, and in total, we collected 36,395 pounds of HHW at these two events.
Our HHW Program in November 2024, processed 136,854 pounds of household chemicals and served 1,884 residents compared to November 2023, at 71,034 pounds and 1,441 residents. In October 2024, we processed 101,519 pounds of household chemicals and served 1,638 residents compared to October 2023, at 78,019 pounds and 1,540 residents. In September 2024, we collected 75,683 pounds of household chemicals though we were closed for multiple days and had to cancel one collection event due to Hurricane Helene. Nearly 3,000 pounds of saltwater contaminated gas were also collected from October to December. Our monthly very small quantity generator (VSQG) collection event for businesses handled 40,044 pounds of chemicals and electronics post storms as well.
In terms of solid waste, the Pinellas County Solid 91²Ö¿â Disposal Complex, which is the only disposal site for municipal solid waste (MSW) in the county, processed 421,830.62 tons of MSW onsite between October and December 2024. The Disposal Complex is not a disaster debris management site, though 4,623,000 cubic yards of storm debris was generated countywide, equating to roughly 115,575 40-yard roll-offs. We saw increases in solid waste throughout the beginning of 2025 as well, as residents continued to rebuild their homes from the damage. As spring arrived, we battled with how we could help mitigate some of these impacts.
How We Plan to Mitigate These Impacts in the Future
We kicked off a spring cleaning outreach campaign in April and May of 2025, with the message that many of these old chemicals and batteries are fire hazards and could pollute your home and neighborhood during a hurricane. The goal was to clean them out before the start of hurricane season on June 1stÌýto help protect the community from environmental contamination and for residents to avoid waiting in long lines right before a storm.
Various Social Media Campaigns and News StoriesÌý
As a result of the spring-cleaning campaign, in April and May 2025, about 23% more pounds of chemicals were collected through HHW Programs than the average of recent years, when there was no HHW spring cleaning campaign. This equates to, on average, about 32,200 more pounds of chemicals. In April and May 2025, there were about 11% more customers of HHW Programs than the average of recent years, when there was no HHW spring cleaning campaign. All in all, a total of 312,570 pounds of household chemicals were brought in from April through June.
Thankfully, 2025 was a calm storm season but we wanted to keep the momentum and advertised the spring-cleaning campaign again this year targeting not only HHW, but spring cleaning of homes in general. In April 2026 we collected about 101,000 pounds of chemicals and May is kicking off to be another busy month. As the barrier island communities are over a 30-minute drive from our two HHW facilities, we are incorporating a chemical collection event on the islands as part of this year’s campaign on May 30thÌýto better assist in preparing the most vulnerable areas of Pinellas County. Then, June 1stÌýwe enter another hurricane season, prepared for the worst and hoping for the best.
On July 16, 2026, you can join us for a presentation as part of NAHMMA’s monthly webinar series that will continue this discussion. We look forward to continuing this discussion with you all.